1935 New Zealand general election

1935 New Zealand general election

← 1931 26 (Māori) & 27 November (general) 1935 1938 →
elected members →
All 80 seats in the New Zealand Parliament 41 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Michael Joseph Savage George Forbes Party Labour United/Reform Leader since 12 October 1933 18 September 1931 Leader's seat Auckland West Hurunui Last election 24 seats, 34.27% 47 seats, 54.03% Seats after 53 16 Seat change 29 31 Popular vote 389,911 285,422 Percentage 45.73% 33.48% Swing 11.46% 20.55%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Harold Rushworth Eruera Tirikatene Party Country Party Ratana Leader since November 1928 3 August 1932 Leader's seat Bay of Islands Southern Maori Last election 1 seat, 2.3% 0 seats, 1.00% Seats after 2 2 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 11,809 6,249 Percentage 1.67% 0.73% Swing 0.67% 0.27%
Results of the election.
Prime Minister before election George Forbes United/Reform Subsequent Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage Labour

The 1935 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 25th term. It resulted in the Labour Party's first electoral victory, with Michael Joseph Savage becoming the first Labour Prime Minister after defeating the governing coalition, consisting of the United Party and the Reform Party, in a landslide.

The governing coalition lost 31 seats, which was attributed by many to their handling of the Great Depression: the year after the election, the United and Reform parties merged to form the modern National Party.

The election was originally scheduled to be held in 1934, in keeping with the country's three-year election cycle, but the governing coalition postponed the election by one year hoping that the economic conditions would improve by 1935.^[1]